Loose Ends

We went to the airport to pick up some relatives of his. An aunt, her son and her daughter in-law. He told me about their dysfunctional family, where debt-ridden children went abroad to hide leaving family members behind to clean up their mess, where children disregard their own parents, not only do they not learn from their mistakes but seem rather proud of them.

An obese woman waved at us. Is that your aunt? I asked. Yes it is.

She wasn’t smiling. She looks rather disoriented and lost, wondering where her son was. There was a far-away look on her face. There was such emptiness and sadness in her eyes that struck me to my core the very moment I looked into them. You don’t see these things in real life! I thought to myself, not believing what I was looking at. You only read them in novels and see them in movies.

Her son came out shortly after pushing a trolley full of luggage. Her eyes lit up as she saw him. She must’ve loved him dearly, I thought.

Then he broke the news. Mom, you’re not coming with us. Go back with them. We’ll be going to Thailand for a week without you. I’ll see you when I can.

I was outraged! Who in the world would leave their mother behind like this! She didn’t want to leave his side. She tried begging him to let her stay with them. He just didn’t care. It took awhile for us to persuade her to come with us. She finally relented. Not like she has anywhere else she could go.

A few days after their Thailand trip he broke an even more devastating news to me. Her son and in-law were going to put her into an old folk’s home. I wasn’t there to witness their conversation first hand but the shock, disappointment and betrayal she must’ve felt…… I can’t even begin to understand.

Such was the fate of an elderly woman that no one cared about. Never in a million years I would’ve thought I would ever encounter something like this. You hear stories about it happening to other people’s family all the time, even though I didn’t know her, it happened in someone’s family whom I’m relatively close to.

I wished there was more I could’ve done for her but I’m in no position to do or say anything. I just wish something more could’ve been done for her. If it gave me any comfort at all was to know that her living space wasn’t that bad. At least she’s getting more attention than she ever would’ve gotten with her family.

What’s becoming of this society? Where do such selfishness come from?

I’ll never forget those lifeless, empty eyes I saw that night in the airport.

Sigh……